Itron Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2013 Financial Results

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — Feb. 12, 2014 — Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) announced today financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2013. Highlights include:

• Quarterly and full year revenues of $524 million and $1.9 billion;
• Quarterly and full year GAAP net loss per share of $3.93 and $3.74, inclusive of a $173 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge recorded during the quarter resulting in $4.12 per share impact, net of tax;
• Quarterly and full year non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of 36 cents and $1.90, inclusive of a 36 cent impact to the quarter for a discrete tax item;
• Quarterly and full year adjusted EBITDA of $50 million and $168 million;
• Twelve-month backlog of $549 million and total backlog of $1.1 billion;
• Quarterly bookings of $527 million; and
• Implemented new segment reporting for Electricity, Gas and Water.

"Our fourth quarter revenue and non-GAAP operating income results reflect continued improvement in our performance," said Philip Mezey, Itron's president and chief executive officer. "I was pleased with the increase in smart volumes, 13 percent growth in bookings, our execution on our restructuring plans and our efforts to lower costs and expenses. While fourth quarter results were impacted by a goodwill impairment charge in our Electricity segment and a discrete tax charge, the steps we have taken in 2013 position Itron to be more competitive in a tough economy and global marketplace. Despite a more conservative outlook, I am encouraged by the progress of our ongoing efforts to improve financial performance and build a solid foundation for future growth and profitability."

Financial Results

Revenues were $524 million for the quarter and $1.9 billion for the full year, compared with $523 million and $2.2 billion in the same periods in 2012. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates unfavorably impacted revenue by approximately $3 million for the quarter and $15 million for the year. Excluding the impact from foreign currency, revenues for the quarter increased $3 million and decreased $215 million for the full year compared with the same periods in 2012. For the quarter, increased revenues in both the Electricity and Water segments were partially offset by a decrease in the Gas segment revenues. The decrease for the full year period was driven by lower Electricity segment revenues primarily related to the completion of several OpenWay smart meter projects in North America and lower Gas segment revenues, partially offset by an increase in Water segment revenues.

Gross margin for the quarter and full year was 31.5 percent compared with 31.2 percent and 32.8 percent in the respective prior year periods. Gross margin improved in the quarter primarily due to a favorable impact from product mix. Gross margin decreased for the year due to the impact of lower volumes, increased cost for an OpenWay project and product mix.

GAAP operating expenses were $314 million in the quarter and $750 million for the full year of 2013 compared with $144 million and $564 million in the same periods of 2012. A non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $173 million was recognized during the quarter resulting from the annual goodwill impairment assessment. The impairment was in the Electricity segment and was driven primarily by delays in global smart grid projects, and lower volumes and pricing pressures in certain regions in Europe and Asia Pacific. The revised forecast reduced the estimated fair value of the segment. This non-cash charge does not impact the company's normal business operations or debt covenants. The Water and Gas segments did not incur impairments. The remaining operating expenses decreased $4 million for the quarter over the prior year period driven primarily by lower sales and marketing expenses. For the full year, the remaining operating expenses increased $12 million compared with 2012 primarily due to restructuring expense.

GAAP operating loss for the quarter was $149 million compared with operating income of $19 million in the same period of 2012. GAAP net loss for the quarter was $154 million, or $3.93 per share, compared with net income of $16 million, or 40 cents per diluted share. The operating and net loss for the quarter was attributable to the goodwill impairment charge. In addition, an increase in tax expense was driven by a discrete tax item recognized in the quarter related to the write down of a deferred tax asset.

GAAP operating loss for the full year was $135 million compared with operating income of $151 million in 2012. GAAP net loss for the full year was $147 million, or $3.74 per share, compared with net income of $108 million, or $2.71 per diluted share, in 2012. The GAAP operating and net loss for the year was primarily attributable to the goodwill impairment, lower gross profit and restructuring expense.

Non-GAAP operating expenses, which exclude amortization of intangibles, restructuring charges, acquisition related expenses and the goodwill impairment, were $127 million for the quarter compared with $133 million in the prior year quarter. The decrease in expenses was due to lower global sales and marketing expenses. For the full year, non-GAAP operating expenses were $497 million compared with $509 million in 2012. The decrease in expenses for the year was due to lower global sales and marketing and product development expenses, partially offset by an increase in general and administrative expenses primarily related to legal reserves.

Non-GAAP operating income was $38 million for the quarter compared with $30 million in the same period in 2012. The increase in non-GAAP operating income was primarily due to higher gross profit and lower operating expenses. Non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings for the quarter were $14 million, or 36 cents per share, compared with $23 million, or 58 cents per share in the prior year quarter. Non-GAAP earnings were impacted by 36 cents per share due to an increase in tax expense driven by a discrete tax item related to the write down of a deferred tax asset.

Non-GAAP operating income for the full year was $118 million compared with $206 million in 2012. Non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings for the year were $75 million, or $1.90 per share, compared with $145 million, or $3.62 per share, in 2012. The decrease in non-GAAP operating income for the full year was attributable to lower gross profit, primarily due to lower revenues, partially offset by decreased operating expenses. Net income for the year was negatively impacted by the discrete tax item recognized in the fourth quarter, which had a 35 cent per share impact.

Free cash flow was $24 million for the quarter compared with $52 million in the prior year quarter. The decrease was driven by changes in working capital. Free cash flow for the full year was $45 million compared with $155 million in 2012. The decrease over the prior year was due primarily to lower earnings.

During the quarter, the company repurchased 86,392 shares of Itron common stock at an average price of $39.48 per share pursuant to Board authorization to repurchase up to $50 million of Itron common stock during a 12-month period beginning March 2013. As of December 31, 2013, the company had repurchased 645,392 shares of Itron common stock at an average price of $41.80 per share, representing approximately 1.6 percent of total shares outstanding as of March 2013.

Share Repurchase Program

The company also announced today that its Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase program of up to $50 million of the company's common stock over a 12 month period to commence upon the completion of the current repurchase program in March 2014. See the press release issued today and Form 8-K for further details on the repurchase plan.

Financial Guidance

Itron's guidance for the full year 2014 is as follows:

• Revenue between $1.825 and $1.925 billion
• Non-GAAP diluted EPS between $1.30 and $1.80

The company's guidance assumes a gross margin between 31 and 32 percent, a Euro to U.S. dollar average exchange rate of $1.33, average shares outstanding of approximately 39.8 million for the year and a non-GAAP effective tax rate for the year between 30 and 32 percent.

Earnings Conference Call

Itron will host a conference call to discuss the financial results and guidance contained in this release at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Feb. 12, 2014. The call will be webcast in a listen-only mode. Webcast information and conference call materials will be made available 10 minutes before the start of the call and are accessible on Itron's website at http://investors.itron.com/events.cfm. The webcast replay will be available within 90 minutes of the conclusion of the live call and will be available for two weeks. A telephone replay of the conference call will be available at 10:00 p.m. EST on Feb. 12, 2014 through 10:00 p.m. EST on Feb. 14, 2014. To access the telephone replay, dial (888) 203-1112 (Domestic) or (719) 457-0820 (International) and enter passcode 5975912.

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements concerning our expectations about operations, financial performance, sales, earnings and cash flows. These statements reflect our current plans and expectations and are based on information currently available. The statements rely on a number of assumptions and estimates, which could be inaccurate, and which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to vary materially from those anticipated. Risks and uncertainties include the rate and timing of customer demand for our products, rescheduling of current customer orders, changes in estimated liabilities for product warranties, changes in laws and regulations, our dependence on new product development and intellectual property, future acquisitions, changes in estimates for stock-based and bonus compensation, increasing volatility in foreign exchange rates, international business risks and other factors that are more fully described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Itron undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, including our business outlook.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

To supplement our consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with GAAP, we use certain non-GAAP financial measures, including non-GAAP operating expense, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP diluted EPS, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. We provide these non-GAAP financial measures because we believe they provide greater transparency and represent supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making. Specifically, these non-GAAP financial measures are provided to enhance investors' overall understanding of our current financial performance and our future anticipated performance by excluding infrequent or non-cash costs, particularly those associated with acquisitions. We exclude certain costs in our non-GAAP financial measures as we believe the net result is a measure of our core business. Non-GAAP performance measures should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our non-GAAP financial measures may be different from those reported by other companies. A more detailed discussion of why we use non-GAAP financial measures, the limitations of using such measures, and reconciliations between non-GAAP and the nearest GAAP financial measures are included in this press release.

Statements of operations, segment information, balance sheets, cash flow statements and reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures follow.

Related Documents:

Itron Q4 2013 Earnings Statement.